


The Brightest Star

by PollyWeasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (nor them), (not their babies), Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Male Lactation, Mpreg, Off-scene child trafficking, Pregnant Draco Malfoy, Pregnant Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-14 09:01:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8007187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PollyWeasley/pseuds/PollyWeasley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to a mission, Harry has to be away from his family for a while, and Draco can’t leave the house because it is dangerous for their son. It would be easy to deal with Sol for a couple of days without his husband, but being almost eight months pregnant with nowhere to go, things become a bit more difficult than he planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Brightest Star

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
>  **Warning(s):** Lactation, men with breasts, mpreg, delicate issues related to children, angst (but also lots of fluffy), sex while pregnant.
> 
>  **Epilogue compliant?** No
> 
>  **Author's Notes:** This fic was a challenge for me because I usually write lots of things with a lighter tone. This story tends to be a little heavy, but I tried to make it light, even though there is a wee bit of angst in there. I thank the mods that had to deal with my delay – it was a long, complicated story to translate and English is not my mother tongue. I’d like to thank **josephinestone** for being my beta. You were amazing and helped me so much!  <3 Hope you all have a great time reading this.

Sometimes Draco wondered how he ended up in this situation. Not that this was a _bad_ situation. Quite the opposite. He had never been so happy in his life. But this was precisely the problem: for a long time, he had thought that he’d never be worthy of the happiness that he now enjoyed. After the war, Draco tried his best to improve his family’s life. He helped with the reconstruction of Hogwarts, finished school with extremely high marks, scores tying with Granger’s, and achieved a high position as a Potions Master. He eventually started his own business like he’d always dreamed of. Somewhere there in the middle, he befriended Hermione Granger-Weasley, who had become a great child psychologist. She used, in various situations, his potions in her studies. Draco shouldn’t have been surprised when he found himself surrounded by Gryffindors - and one Ravenclaw - and completely in love with Potter. 

It all started because of a bet. Who could handle the most drinks? At the end of the night, Draco found himself straddling Potter's lap as he received the greatest kiss of his life. Four months later, they were married and moving in together. They bought a huge house in Oxford, full with a backyard and a nice balcony.

They didn’t wait long to start a family. 

Harry was an Auror, rich and paid well. Draco didn’t have to go to work. Also, due to Draco’s Veela inheritance, a few nights every two months, Draco became fertile and could conceive. There was an almost imperceptible opening on his perineum that became soft, wet, and receptive to conception. Those were days that Draco didn’t want to get out of bed the lethargy after sex was so strong. Harry wasn’t exactly a man who liked delicate sex, nor was Draco, and both felt exhausted after such intense activities. 

Eight months later, Sol was born, with huge blue eyes and hair as black as the blackest of nights. His skin was several shades darker than Draco's but lighter than Harry’s, giving the boy a perfect blend between the two. It wasn’t long after that that Draco was expecting a second child - Duhr if boy, and Tulip if a girl. The parents agreed that both family traditions could be followed and decided that Harry would name the girls, and Draco, the boys.

At the moment, Sol lay on Draco’s lap, his chubby hand twisting the cloth of Draco’s shirt where he could reach while he sucked what he could from Draco’s chest. One of the things that left Draco completely unsure about the pregnancy was the lactation. But even now, three years later, Harry seemed to shine when he saw him nursing. Draco’s belly was already prominent, so Sol had to sit a little further down on his legs than he used to. The boy was almost closing his eyes when Harry opened the front door, causing him to completely wake up. Releasing Draco’s nipple with a pop as he raised his head, Sol practically jumped off Draco’s lap and ran to Harry. 

"Daddy! Daddy!" Sol screamed, as if it had been months since he had seen him. 

Harry caught him in his arms with a smile, though Draco could see that he was exhausted. He covered his chest with his shirt and stood up, going to Harry and hugging him, kissing him lightly on the lips. Harry held him by the waist with his free arm; the other holding the boy, who nestled on his chest. His lips caressed Draco’s tenderly, but Draco knew it was due to Sol being in his arms as well as Harry being tired that the kiss wasn’t more passionate.

"I’ll put him to bed,” Harry said. “So, you can rest now." 

Draco was relieved, but at the same time, anxious. "Are you sure?" 

Harry nodded, going up the stairs towards the baby's room.

Draco didn’t feel comfortable leaving an already exhausted Harry to put Sol to bed, but he was also very tired and Harry refused to have a house-elf after his old and grumpy elf died. Draco took the opportunity to take a shower and get rid of the smell of sweat and milk that surrounded him. Draco stroked his bump. He loved the baby inside him so much already, even when he had no idea what they’d look like. 

He was so focused on relaxing under the warm water that he almost jumped when he felt Harry's hands on his waist. He turned to Harry, smiling to see him naked and closed his eyes when Harry’s lips closed over the skin of his neck, causing goose bumps all over his body. Harry kissed him all over, as if worshiping his body; he licked and sucked each nipple, both sensitive and turgid which made Draco moan loudly in the shower. Harry made a trail of kisses to the centre of Draco’s belly, to his cock before turning him with his large, tanned hands. Draco bent forward as Harry kissed between his cheeks. He had to lean and press his body against the tiles so that Harry could do this, but it was worth it. Harry's tongue was so good, and soon he was shaking, moaning uncontrollably, and coming against the damp wall of the shower.

When Harry stood up, Draco couldn’t wait to return the favour, but he knew he probably wouldn’t get up again if he kneeled, so he held the thick cock between his fingers, wanking him fast and hard just as he knew Harry liked. 

After what felt like seconds, Harry was coming on his fingers. It wasn’t their best performance, but at the level of exhaustion they were feeling, it was the best they could do. Harry was too busy with a mission, and Draco had to manage a house, a potions lab, a shop and take care of Sol at the same time. When Harry had more time at home it was easier, but it seemed that the mission was consuming all of his time. Harry never arrived home so late so often, nor so exhausted. Draco knew that putting Sol to sleep was the only time Harry actually had with him, and so he did it even when exhausted.

Draco wasn’t happy with that arrangement and expected it to end soon; mainly because he wanted to have his own time. Everything was at his home. Sol and his work. It caused Draco to barely have time to read the newspaper, a book, or even a magazine. The only entertainment he had was watching the children's cartoons on the Muggle-Telly-thingy. Singing along with Sol the songs he knew as Sol jumped, spun and ran around the room, his curly hair surrounding his face as black rays; his eyes of an intense blue shining with pure fun. Draco loved to see his son and participate in every second of his life, but lately he had been missing being Draco. To be loved as a man, have fun as he pleased. 

Heavens, it seemed like the last time he had actual sex was when he conceived the baby in his stomach!

"When do you think this mission will end...?" Draco asked when they both were in bed.

Harry stroked Draco’s stomach with his fingertips, taking his time to answer.

"I don’t know, dragon..." Harry replied, sincere, with a pained sigh. "I know I’ve been too far from home. It's just... I really need to solve this case. It's too important."

"Tell me about it. You never told me what it was about." Turning to his side, Draco rested his head on one hand.

Harry took more time to answer. Not that he didn’t want to answer. He wanted to. But the fact was that Harry was too frightened by this mission in particular. He wasn’t used to be afraid of bandits and criminals, but in that case it was something too hideous. Much had surfaced after the war, things that Harry had never learned while fighting Voldemort. But soon after, all the rottenness surfaced as fat in hot water. 

Now Harry was about to make Draco's life even more difficult. However, Harry couldn’t help it.

"It's something horrible, Draco,” Harry said. “And I have a request that won’t be easy for you." Looking at Draco’s belly and resting his callused hand on it; dark against Draco’s pale skin. "I'm going to put wards around our house. And I need to ask you to not leave the house until the mission ends. Go nowhere. Not even your parent’s."

Draco almost jumped, looking at him in horror.

"Are you mad, Potter? I have a shop to manage! I need to check budgets, orders, make sure employees are working—"

"And you can do all that by Floo like you have been." Harry sat, facing him. "Draco, you don’t understand."

"No, Harry! It is you who don’t understand! I'm almost eight months pregnant, caring for a three year old child _alone_ all day, and you want to forbid me to see my own parents? I know how to take care of myself, Potter, and I can take care of my son—"

"Draco!" Harry’s commanding voice took over the room, silencing Draco by scaring him. Harry never yelled at him when he was pregnant, because they didn’t want to disturb the growth of their children. "I don’t want to be your owner, damn it! I don’t want to hold you here, but Draco... They—" At this point, Harry’s eyes filled with tears, and his hands went through his unruly hair as if he could hide how much they were shaking.

"Harry?" Draco came to his side when he sat on the bed, hiding his face with his hands and slightly shaking. He touched Harry’s shoulder, following a deep scar that he had earned in another mission. The first time Draco saw it, he was desperate and shouted at Harry for half an hour over his bed on St. Mungo’s. Now, he thought it was immensely sexy.

"They are capturing children, Draco. Sol’s age." Harry looked up, wet cheeks, his eyes practically begging Draco to understand. "During the war, they used muggles to improve neural spells. And now, there’s a group of people, Draco, capturing children up to ten years old." And then, Harry's gaze wasn’t on Draco anymore, focusing on a distant point. "They lobotomize the children, break the tendons of their arms and legs so that the child can no longer move... They remove the vocal cords and sell... sell the child as a..." He took a deep breath. "As a sex doll for rich men. With a shelf life of one year."

Draco almost fell over the bed. His arms automatically wrapped around his stomach, his eyes filling with tears as Harry’s had previously.

"Six children were found dead. One was alive, but the buyer killed himself before we could get him for questioning. St. Mungo's hasn’t found a way to get him out of his catatonic state, and he is no more than age five." Harry’s words sounded almost cold, and he turned to Draco. "I haven’t slept properly for days. And now you know why I didn’t want to tell you these things..."

Draco had one hand over his mouth, trying to control the horror that was trying to get out in the form of cry from his lips. This was something so inhuman that even in his time as a Death Eater, he didn’t think the Dark Lord would be capable of something like that. 

"Draco, I don’t want to lock you up, but... You know what they would do to a child with Veela blood? To you, knowing you’re carrying another one?" Harry turned to him, holding him by the chin, and lifting his face. "Please, promise me you will not leave. Please. Just during this mission. Promise me..."

"I... I-I promise. I will stay here with Sol,” Draco said, looking at Harry and feeling for the first time a relief to know that his husband would never be able to carry a child. Draco knew that if he had the chance, Harry would want it. He loved his family so much, and would jump at the opportunity to expand it.

They took a long time to fall asleep, even though they were in bed, hugging each other as if under the sheets no enemy could touch them. Invariably, Draco’s thoughts turned to Sol, who was alone in his crib across the hall. It was a long night for both parents, and when the day dawned, it was a sacrifice to let Harry go to work. Harry blocked the Floo for everyone except Narcissa, Pansy, Blaise, Hermione, Ron, Luna and themselves. He fortified the wards around the house, preventing anyone from walking through the door or even think about knocking. Draco felt as if he was in military headquarters, but he knew Harry did it for Sol. For him and for their unborn child.

It was difficult to get out of the bed that day. In fact, Draco only opened his eyes when he felt a weight pushing on the mattress. Sol looked at him with those huge blue eyes, with tousled black curls for he had just woken up, his thumb in his mouth and the other hand holding the blanket that he slept with against his body. Draco pulled him closer, kissing the top of his head and cradling him against his chest.

The little one pulled at his shirt, asking for milk. Draco knew that Sol was already too old to still be breastfed, but when Draco tried to wean him the milk accumulated and the pain was horrible. He didn’t even want to remember when Sol had learned to sleep through the night and he felt extremely sharp pains, so he asked Harry to remove it by mouth. It may have seemed like a delicious erotic experience, but it wasn’t pleasant for either of them. According to Harry, human milk doesn’t taste good, and at this time Draco was still extremely uncomfortable to have breasts. He felt ugly and abhorrent, and hadn’t wanted Harry's lips there.

Nowadays, he admitted it being a silent fetish for both of them, present, but never mentioned.

Yawning sleepily, Draco lifted his shirt, pulling his baby close and giving him his chest, feeling comfortable and safe with the light sucking sensation. Sol’s chubby and long fingers played with his hair. He could feel the boy's feet moving lightly against his legs while the comfort of the moment led both to a light state of drowsiness. He let himself fall asleep lulled by the unique sensation of feeling his child so close. When he awoke, almost two hours later, Sol was asleep with his head resting on his chest, breathing in rhythm with his father.

It was hard to get up and follow his routine, but he didn’t want to show how much he was nervous in Sol’s presence. He made lunch, only realizing that he had skipped breakfast and the child in his belly kicked furiously by having their food ignored. Draco served the table, putting Sol’s food in a plastic plate with an elephant’s head format.

"Daddy will not eat with us?" Sol asked as he munched a piece of his pasta. Draco didn’t cook as well as Harry, even though he had tried to learn for years, and Sol soon noticed the difference, but he knew that it wasn’t why the boy asked for Harry.

"He's working, dear," Draco said, trying not to think about the mission.

"He’s always working," Sol muttered, grimacing at his plate. He was all dirty with noodles sauce while trying to eat with the plastic fork. Draco pinned his black curls with a rubber band, but that didn’t stop the boy from getting sauce on his clothes and hands. "You'll stay here, right, Papa?" Sol looked hopeful, as if afraid of being alone.

"Of course I will, Sol! Do you think your papa would leave you alone?" he asked, feigning astonishment and his eyes widened in a surprised fashion.

The boy looked as if accusing him, but then went back to eating his noodles quietly.

That didn’t last longer than three minutes. Soon Sol was bouncing in his chair, and running around the house before going back, sitting down to keep eating. Draco accused Potter’s genes for him being that way, and it was impossible to deny it. Sol was just as Draco imagined Harry’d been when he was three-years-old, except that his son had blue eyes and lighter skin. But there were the same almond-shaped eyes, fleshy and full lips, the small square chin and black curls. Harry said they were too long, but Draco refused to cut them. He loved that hair full of little twists and turns, that moved in all directions when the boy ran through the wizarding park a few minutes from their home.

He sighed to think that he couldn’t take the boy there. Not for now.

"Sol, eat your food." Draco put him back in the chair, and the boy looked sulky. There was the Malfoy look of annoyance, that his mother said was exactly how Draco looked at her when she denied him chocolate before a meal.

"I'm not hungry anymore!" Sol grumbled, crossing his chubby arms. "I want to play!"

"You can play after you eat. Do you want to get weak and sick?" Draco asked, looking at him seriously.

"I am very strong!" Sol exclaimed, standing on the chair. "I'm going to be an Auror like daddy! _Zum-zum_!" Sol moved his little hand as if flicking a wand, and Draco couldn’t keep a straight face.

"Don’t you want to make potions like your papa?" Draco asked, and Sol looked a little guilty for not thinking about it.

"It is too difficult, Papa. And stinky! Ewww!" The boy made a face, probably remembering the times he entered Draco’s lab, only to stare at the steaming cauldrons with dangerous potions and be dragged out.

"But some potions are cool, aren’t they? There is one that makes you invisible, one that leaves you really lucky..."

"And one you turn into someone else!" The little boy’s eyes flashed, and Draco smiled more openly at Sol’s interest in his occupation. The boy had a tendency to follow Harry on everything, but according to Hermione that was because Draco was the figure of stability and Harry the admiration figure. Not that Draco understood what that meant, but apparently Sol admired Harry's life more than Draco’s simply because he saw Draco as family and comfort, and Harry as fun and protection; possibly because Harry tended to ignore certain things that Draco thought that should be disciplined.

Merlin, Draco missed him.

"Yes, and what's its name?" Draco asked, eating his pasta as Sol thought for a while before answering.

"Polyjuice!" Sol shouted, making a little dance of victory on the chair as Draco clapped congratulations.

When they finished lunch, Sol helped Draco with the dishes - or how much wetting the dishes and his father together would help - and then they brushed their teeth, went to the living room where Sol turned on the telly and put on his favourite channel. It was showing an animated film that he had seen several times - Ponyo - and he always laughed loudly at the part where Ponyo’s various sisters gave her several fish kisses. Sol jumped over Draco, giving him several ruffled kisses on his face as the man laughed, trying to get away. That simple routine was fun, but every time it happened he remembered Harry among them, pulling Sol's waist and giving him several kisses too, as punishment.

"Papa, is there a potion that makes the baby come out of your belly faster?" Sol asked, taking him out of his imaginary world. The boy put his little hands on his stomach, as if he could see his little sibling in there.

"Do you want him to get out faster?" Draco asked, instead of answering the question, and Sol seemed not to notice. He nodded, grinning. His milk teeth were still separate and very white, and when he smiled he had dimpled cheeks, just like Harry’s.

"I'll be a great big brother!" he said, approaching his mouth to his father's belly and putting his hands around, as if telling a secret. "I'll take care of you, okay, starlet? No boggart will get you. Promise."

Draco smiled, taking some curls from his face and pulling him closer, putting him on his lap and kissing all his chubby face.

The day passed with the boy playing, sweating and Draco running after him, or as much as he could at thirty-one weeks of pregnancy. The day for Sol was the same as any other. For Draco, it was passing too slowly, like one minute lasted thirty years. In the late afternoon, Sol took a nap on a small mattress that Draco placed in the middle of the well-lit room, after drinking a bottle of milk. Draco at least tried to get him off his breasts when he could.

At that moment, Draco wished again Harry was there. He wondered how he was. If he was ok, if he was safe. Despite being there, trapped inside his own home because of the risk involved, Draco feared more for Harry. He was the one who was fighting for them, and Draco caressed his stomach constantly, as if afraid that someone would come in and take his baby away.

_"Is there a potion that makes the baby come out of your belly faster?"_

This question kept rolling in his head. If there was one, he didn’t know, but if there was, they certainly would use it if Draco was captured. His heart was pounding, and Draco felt his eyes sting. He couldn’t cry. He needed to be strong, he had to be the pillar of the house. He was startled when the Floo came to life, and his mother appeared in a blue dress so light that it made her eyes practically appear as water.

"Mother." He sat down abruptly on the couch, embarrassed to still be wearing pyjamas even though it was almost six. "I wasn’t expecting you."

"I know that." Narcissa smirked, taking her heels off casually and walking to where Sol was sleeping, kneeling on the carpet as if she did it every day and smoothing her grandson’s black hair. "Harold said you might need company."

"His name is _Harry_ , mother. Not Harold," Draco said again, even if it wouldn’t change anything his mother said. "And yes, I'm a little... Bored. If I can say so."

" _Harry_... He could’ve only been half-blood. What kind of mother names her child with a nickname?" she asked, but there was no malice in her voice. "Harold is so much more beautiful and strong. Harold James. It sounds like a prince’s name."

"The Prince of Wales is _Harry_ ," Draco retorted, but Narcissa only chuckled. Draco knew she was just teasing him, something that he was constantly doing with Harry. He should’ve realised after that many years.

"How are you, my dear?" she asked, her long fingers still moving between Sol’s curls, a worship look on her face.

"Tired, heavy, hungry and needing to urinate all the time. Other than that, I'm fine. Eating like a pig, but fine." Draco shrugged, and she laughed even more.

"This baby seems to be calmer than Solis was. Will they be born more like a Malfoy?" she asked, looking at her son. Sol’s pregnancy had been horrible. Draco had vomited the whole time, felt terrible pains and it looked like the boy would either be a boxer or a fighter for how much he kicked his belly. This baby now, however, only seemed to move quietly, as if dancing.

"Sol looks like a Malfoy," Draco shot back, raising one eyebrow. Of course the boy looked like a Malfoy, but in small things. His behaviour, his expressions, his eyes.

"Some say that Solis is the result of an asexual reproduction of your husband, Draco," she teased again, and Draco rolled his eyes. Before he could answer, however, Sol rose on his hands, sleepy.

"Gramma?"

"Hello, Solis." Narcissa smiled, and the boy jumped on her, his smile from ear to ear. Sometimes Draco was jealous of Sol's relationship with Harry, but it didn’t come close to the jealousy he felt with his child and his mother. Sol adored her, almost idolized her.

"Gramma! What you doing here?’ he asked, jumping in the same place after the hug, his blue eyes the exact same tone of Narcissa’s.

"I came to see how you were doing. Did you take good care of your papa?" Narcissa pushed the boy's hair back, but it just returned to frame his face.

"Yes, I'm very strong!" Sol said, showing the muscles that he had on his small and chubby arms. "I took care of papa and my baby brother while my daddy is working!"

"Oh, even of your little brother?" Narcissa pretended interest, and Sol smiled even more.

"Yes! I'm a great big brother!" he said, turning to face Draco as though he expected approval. "Aren’t I, Papa?"

"Yes, darling," Draco replied, letting his mother entertain the little one while he went to the bathroom to relieve himself, for what seemed like the twentieth time that day. When he came back, Narcissa was already drinking wine and sitting on one of the sofas while Sol was again watching a cartoon on the telly.

"Harry spoke to you then." It wasn’t a question. Draco said it quietly, watching the child while he repeated the cartoon dialogues.

"Your father and I are scared to death, Draco. Are you sure this house is safe? We can take you and Solis to the Manor..."

"Mum. Harry warded the house himself. Do you think he would leave his pregnant husband and his three-year-old son unprotected?" Draco asked, feeling an overwhelming need to protect Harry. It had always been like this. Although Narcissa worshiped him, Lucius would always have enmity with Harry and vice versa. It was up to Draco to defend his father from Harry's tantrums, and defend Harry from Lucius acidity.

Narcissa had the decency to blush at the question, sipping wine instead of answering. Draco noticed that her hands were shaking a little.

"I know that in the beginning we were against this relationship. Your father was on parole, you were going through a difficult period and... Well, all that old thinking of purity of blood that has always accompanied our family. But Draco, I love Harry like a son. I see how important he is for you, and therefore he became important to me. And Solis..." She turned her eyes to her grandson, who mimicked the movements of the character, dancing along to the sound of lively music. "I never thought I'd have grandchildren, Draco. And that’s not because you're interested in men. No, I always knew of your inheritance. But the fact is that I thought I wouldn’t survive the war. Now, when I pick up Solis in my arms... I feel the same unconditional love that I felt when I took you in my arms. Even Lucius, distant as he is and with that rule that he can never be alone with Solis... Even with that, he loves the kid. It is as if he doesn’t realise that his grandson is not a pureblood. He just loves him. We are dying with worry, my son. With you, with Solis, with the pregnancy. The baby’s almost coming, Harry's never around..."

Draco realised how much she was worried. Concerned enough not to use the name she always called Harry. Concerned enough to show her feelings so openly. Or maybe it was just the wine.

"Harry is doing everything he can for me and Sol, Mum. I trust him," Draco said quietly. He trusted him his life, as he was trusting him right now, and it was strange to realise these things only at such times. At times when he was stressed out, worried.

He felt a thin, sharp pain at the base of his stomach. It was bearable.

"I know you do, son. I know you do," she said, continuing to sip her wine.

Narcissa left just after half seven. Draco warmed dinner for two, but Sol refused to eat.

"Come on, son. Eat. You love mashed potatoes," Draco insisted, trying to put it in the boy's mouth with a spoon.

"I don’t want it! I want chicken soup!" Sol fought, pushing the plate.

"Solis! Open your mouth now!" Draco tried not to yell at the boy, but he felt the anger rise to his temples.

"I don’t want it! I want soup!"

"I don’t know how to make soup!"

"I want daddy!"

"He is not here! You will eat mashed potatoes!"

"I don’t want you; I want daddy!"

"Solis, he's not here! You're with me, and you do what I say!"

"No! I hate you!" The boy grabbed the plate and threw it on the floor, raising his head and looking at Draco, who had wide eyes, the spoon dangling from his hand.

Draco knew that Sol was feeling a lot of pressure; he felt the nervousness and tension around him. He had always been sensitive, always. His mother’s visit would’ve left him nervous to the point that he felt stressed enough to shout it.

But it hurt. Merlin, how it hurt.

Sol probably realised that he had said something horrible, because he came down from his chair, grabbed the plate that he had thrown to the ground and placed it on the table, moving closer to Draco with tears in his eyes.

"Sorry, Papa. It was a lie. I clean. It was a lie, I swear," he said, but it was hard for Draco to endure that in silence. Not only himself, but his boy was suffering with the situation. "Papa... Papa, I'm sorry."

Draco took his wand from the table after putting the spoon in the plate again, cleaning up the mess that Sol had done. The boy was about to cry, lips trembling and eyes filling with tears. Draco tried to remember that Sol was only three-years-old and was under pressure. He wasn’t an aggressive or vicious child; he was just too nervous.

"Do you hate me, Solis?" Draco asked, looking in his child’s eyes, watching two fat tears running down his cheeks.

"I love you, papa. I love you more than everything." Solis jumped on him, tucking his head in the line between his neck and shoulder, and Draco couldn’t resist. He hugged him tightly, careful not to let him get over his bump, and kissed his hair that still held that baby smell. Draco wanted to ask who he loved more, Harry or Draco, but controlled himself. He couldn’t do this kind of thing to his child, not only because it would leave him under terrible pressure, but also because he might not like the answer.

Draco let himself get lost in this embraced with his little one for a long while. They lay on his bed, and Sol played with his pyjama buttons while Draco remade his curls with his fingers, one by one. When the boy asked for his milk again, Draco wanted to deny it, but those sorrowful eyes made it impossible. Sol was almost asleep, but Draco managed to keep him awake for a warm bath in the tub, taking care not to wet his hair. Sol slept in his father's arms, little hands slowly stroking the man's belly.

In the middle of the night, Draco couldn’t keep looking at the ceiling without doing anything. Insomnia made him even angrier, and he sought his wand and sat down, murmuring the charm so he wouldn’t wake up his son while casting his patronus. An arctic fox flew from the tip of his wand, sitting in front of him and waiting for his message.

"To Harry: Are you alright? Are you coming back home? We are safe. I love you," were his words. The fox nodded and went to deliver his message. Draco laid down, and it took several minutes before the room was illuminated by the silver light of Harry's patronus. He sat, looking at the majestic wolf in which Harry’s patronus had turned a few years ago, feeling more relaxed. If he was strong enough to send the patronus, then he was fine.

"I am fine. I can’t come back now. We are almost there. Continue to stay safe. I love you."

And it disappeared. Draco wished that the patronus charm was like the mobile apparatus of conversation that Harry had, that recorded voices and you could hear them as often as wanted, but Draco learned how to use one of those.

After that, Draco couldn’t sleep. In the morning, Sol woke up with the same bright smile as ever, and even though tired, Draco followed him to the bathroom. After they brushed their teeth, Draco took the boy’s nappy off and they took a bath, complete with a shampoo mohawk and shark attacks underwater. Sol loved to put his ear on his father's belly to hear his little sibling, who moved a lot on these times.

They walked hand in hand into the bedroom. Draco put on comfortable clothes and sat the boy on the bed to put his. Despite being three, Sol still had some trouble peeing in the right place, therefore Draco always had to put a nappy on him. He closed the two flaps and smiled, seeing that baby smooth belly rising and lowering as Sol laughed, moving his legs. Draco made a fake psychopath look, with a smile and wide eyes, and Sol laughed even more.

"Papa, no!" he yelled, and Draco smiled even more.

"Papa, yes!" he said, then mercilessly tickling his belly, as if it was begging for it. Sol writhed, laughing aloud with his baby laugh, trying to keep his father's hands away and run from where he was. Draco pulled him by his foot when he managed to escape, then giving several kisses all over the boy's face, before stopping, laughing at him.

A smile that almost died when he felt a thin, sharp pain in his stomach. He squinted slightly, waiting for the pain to pass and trying not to moan. When he opened his eyes, Solis looked at him with confusion.

"Papa, are you okay?" he asked, and Draco nodded.

"Yes, everything’s ok. Let's get finished with the dressing?" he asked, and the boy chose his own clothes: blue shorts and a blue shirt with a drawing of a small boat. Draco untangled his hair with his fingers so not to destroy any of the curls, and they went to breakfast.

The day went as usual: full of events. Sol was active, and didn’t stop: jumping from one side to another, watching the telly, playing with his toys, drawing, asking this and that, combing Draco’s hair, then back to jumping _while_ watching the telly, running through the house, knocking juice on the floor and making Draco run after him all day. The man was tired, and once again wished Harry was there. Usually in the mornings, Draco locked himself in his laboratory and finished his work, checked the shop and made new orders. Harry would leave after lunch, and come back before dinner. Sol always slept in the late afternoon, so it wasn’t so hard for Draco to care for him alone in the afternoon before Harry returned.

Not that Draco didn’t like to stay all day with Sol, but being with a huge belly and worried to the extreme, he was living on the edge. Sol wanted to play, and he simply couldn’t stand up. His heels were aching, and the base of his spine was aching as well. There was this constant ache in his womb, that although bearable, was making him grumpy. He thanked Heavens when the boy slept on his mattress in the middle of the living room, sucking his thumb and breathing lightly.

His tranquillity didn’t last long. At half five that evening, Draco was surrounded by Pansy, Luna and Hermione, who decided to "pass by" and see how he was. Draco didn’t have time to get out of his pyjamas, being able to just put a coat on as they entered by Floo in silence, knowing that at this time Sol was asleep. What gave them away was the noise of the fire.

"We thought that you would want a time for you," Pansy said, dragging him into the bedroom along with Luna as Hermione stood behind in the living room, watching out for Sol, who was still asleep despite the noise. Well, at least Draco knew that Sol had taken after himself when the question was sleep. He slept anywhere, and even if it were an earthquake, he would sleep through it.

"You've been spending too much time with your child. We have come to remind you that you are Draco, too, and not only a father," Luna answered the question in his confused eyes, and then Draco was carried away. He let them throw him into the tub, and he didn’t get out for a long time, relaxing and letting his body rest. He decided to leave when he heard the noise of the telly, which indicated that Sol was awake, but neither Pansy nor Luna let him come down the stairs.

"Hermione is with the boy, Draco, relax. You know she has a way with children," Pansy said with a chuckle what Draco understood as 'she cares for thousands of Weasley pests all the time, relax.' And he did. He let himself be pampered and taken care of by the two, without getting bothered by them seeing his naked body, nor the touching or the laughing at his bitter comments. For a moment, it was good to forget that Sol depended on him for almost everything, that his husband was out there in the real world trying to save other children, and that he was a pregnant man, tired and in pain.

The pain was still there, still beating, but he forgot about it for a while.

Pansy put eyeliner on his eyes, a light eye shadow and a slightly rosy lip balm, which only accentuated the colour of his lips. Draco had to admit that he liked makeup, but he liked even more to be pampered, and while Luna put small white flowers in his hair, ear length, he let Pansy do what she wanted on his face. It also wasn’t unpleasant to get a massage on his swollen feet and sore ankles. After all the pampering, Draco felt more like himself.

Pansy made sure he changed into black trousers and a light blue tunic, which made his eyes light up even more. He spent the last two days wearing only pyjamas, so it was good to feel beautiful and cared for, especially when he returned to the living room and Sol had a huge smile for him.

"Papa, you're so beautiful!" The boy exclaimed, jumping in the same place and holding the bottom of the tunic Draco was using. "Even your hair!"

"Thank you, Sol, but we all know that I'm just _more_ beautiful today. I'm always beautiful. Do you think I should look like this every day?" he asked, and the boy nodded, his smile still huge.

"Aunt 'Mione said she would make tea and toast for us. I asked for chocolate milk!" Sol said, turning in place and running to the carpet, which was full of toys.

The afternoon passed pleasantly. All the women had great stories to tell, especially Luna, who had finished her healer degrees and was travelling whenever she could to the most remote villages that had to deal with almost non-existent access to health resources. It was amazing the amount of healing potions’ knowledge many people had simply because they lived near the woods. They reminded him of the time when the Wiccans were extremely popular - and persecuted.

When the night came and the Sol was asleep in his room, Draco started to think about Harry. Suddenly, he felt a vicious urge to cry. His eyes began to burn and he sniffled, trying to tell himself everything was okay, that Harry was fine and that nothing would happen to him.

Draco almost jumped out of bed when he heard the Floo come to life. He went - as fast as he could with a belly that size – downstairs and stopped in the middle of the living room. Harry was there, with his Auror’s cloak in one hand, his eyes tired and his hair more tousled than ever. What startled Draco, however, was the huge cut on his cheek, which apparently had been cleaned, but was still bright red.

"Wow. You’re beautiful," Harry said, grinning as if nothing was happening outside of their house. Draco remembered the makeup and flowers, clothing and everything else, and felt his heart warm up.

"You are horrible, Potter. And reeking," was Draco’s answer, and Harry smiled, approaching him the most he could without touching his body, and gave him a soft peck on his lips.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said, turning away and heading towards the bathroom. Draco returned to their bedroom and, twenty minutes later, Harry reappeared, wearing nothing but a towel. Draco could see several purplish bruises across his chest and back, but didn’t comment on them. He didn’t want to know. The cut on his cheek had been cured, leaving only a light red scar in its place, given that Harry wasn’t the best at healing spells.

"How is Sol?" Harry asked, taking the towel off his waist and hanging it on the suite door, unashamed of being completely naked. And why would he? There was nothing that Draco hadn’t seen. Still, Draco couldn’t take his eyes off of him as Harry slipped on his boxers and ran his hands through his hair so that it would dry out faster, destroying all the curls Draco loved. Eventually they would form again when his hair dried.

"He’s fine. Misses you..." 

Harry threw himself on the bed, sighing.

"I miss him a lot, too. You both," he said, one hand skimming over Draco's stomach. "Hey, Tulip."

"Duhr," Draco corrected, and Harry laughed.

"She’ll be a girl."

"A boy."

"Maybe both? A stomach that size can fit two babies." Harry laughed. 

"Are you saying I'm fat?" Draco narrowed his eyes at him, but there was also a challenge in them.

"I'm telling you; either this is a huge baby or we have two of them." Harry touched the middle of Draco’s belly, feeling the movements inside him and laughing. "See? She knows I'm here."

" _He_ knows. It's a boy, Potter, I know that," Draco insisted, looking at Harry’s hand. "And he misses you. See how he moves just because he hears your voice?"

"Hey, baby," Harry said next to Draco’s stomach. "Daddy's here. I want to see you soon. You can get out now, okay?"

"Potter, it will take more than a month for him to come out." Draco rolled his eyes, but there was a slight smile on his lips.

"I'm anxious," Harry said, sitting up with a smile on his mouth.

"I'm carrying him everywhere. Do you think I'm less anxious?" Draco nipped Harry's side, and Harry tried to escape but laughed. "I just want things at the correct time, just that."

"Okay, Papa," Harry resigned, approaching Draco. "But now that I'm clean and you are beautiful this way... How about I destroy all that work, un?" Harry came closer to Draco, holding him by the side of his face and kissing his lips slowly, feeling Draco soften in his arms and give in almost immediately. Both missed it so, so much, and at that moment, everything seemed perfect.

Everything was slower. Having a belly that housed a baby between the two, everything had to be more delicate, but it didn’t diminish their want. Harry kissed passionately, even if he didn’t grab, pull and play as he normally would. His hands roamed Draco's body with devotion, taking off his tunic and making him shiver when he began to kiss his pale neck, down to his clavicles and then sucking a nipple in a way that caused a completely different feeling from how Sol did it. The same gesture, but instead of letting him calm and feel protected, Draco felt as if his whole body were on fire. He arched under Harry, low moans coming out of his throat, his fingers intertwining in his lover’s damp raven hair. Within seconds, he was hard, wanting to be filled by Harry again. For a long time they were not having any _real_ sex, and that lack of sex left Draco even more tense than he already was.

Harry probably was missing it too because, soon enough, they were both naked, and three tanned fingers were moving in and out of Draco’s body. The lubricant dripped, making a wet noise, but it only made him feel more excited. From the tip of his cock dripped drops of pre-cum, and every time Harry's fingers brushed his prostate, he bit his lip to contain a loud groan.

"I want... I want you to ride me," Harry said with a hoarse, needing voice. He laid his body on the bed with his head on the pillows, stripping from his boxers and releasing his rigid cock. He took the tube of lubricant in his hand, putting the liquid on his fingers and wetting his erection, before Draco slowly threw one leg over his lap, straddling him. He put his hands on Harry's thighs - because it was very uncomfortable supporting them on his chest - and Harry held the base of his penis so that Draco could come down on him; his face displaying pure joy as he slowly impaled himself with his hard cock. As he sat completely on him, Draco smiled, wiggling his arse in a torturous way.

"I missed it... So much... Hnnn..." he moaned, and Harry held him by his thighs, squeezing the soft flesh and controlling his own groans.

"Heavens... You're beautiful... You are the most beautiful person I've ever seen..." Harry muttered, unable to stop. "So tight... So hot... So wet... Ahh..."

Draco didn’t wait to hear more of that - even though he loved it when Harry talked during sex - and started to ride him, going up to his cock’s head, than going down, slow, strong and hard. Their bedroom had a permanent silencing spell - that only worked from the inside out, allowing them to hear Sol - but keep their moans in; still they were low, slow, and hoarse with pleasure, born within their stomachs and permeating their entire bodies, growing, increasing each time Draco unintentionally went faster. Harry raised his head enough to see his cock appearing and disappearing within Draco’s body, even though he couldn’t see this in detail, and realised he was almost coming.

"Dragon... I want to come inside you... I want to fill you with my come and see it running down your legs... I want... I want you to come knowing that I will fill you all inside while you come all over me..."

The pressure around his penis was enough for Harry to stop talking and pressed up hard as Draco pressed hard down on his body, hitting his prostate. Draco let out a loud, needy groan, spilling his seed on Harry’s chest and squeezing his cock with his body, forcing Harry to reach his limit and fill him with hot liquid.

Draco leaned forward with his hands, breathing hard and trying to compose himself. Slowly, he rolled off of Harry, lying beside him and waiting for his breathing to calm down. He could feel the tingle of a cleaning spell before dozing off completely, being taken into the world of dreams.

When he woke up, there was an uncomfortable pressure in his womb, a sharp and constant pain. Draco instinctively put his hand over the spot, squinting and waiting for the pain to pass. Merlin, it was a horrible pain. It seemed like something was scratching his body from inside, moving his organs and pulling them out of the place. It took a few minutes for the pain to pass enough so that he could get up and go to the bathroom. He thanked Heavens for being alone in bed.

Once he relieved himself and showered, Draco wore casual clothes and went downstairs to the kitchen. There was toast, eggs, sausage and orange juice under a preservation spell, and laughter coming from the living room. Draco made up a plate for himself with a glass of juice and went to the living room, seeing Harry and Sol sitting on the carpet, looking through several photo albums. By the light coming from the window, it should already be at least ten in the morning, too late for him to wake up in common situations. But this week wasn’t very common.

"Papa!" Sol shouted, raising his head and smiling at him. He stood up and hugged one of Draco’s legs before returning to sit beside Harry. "We are looking at photos!"

"Hey, Dray," Harry also greeted him, and Draco handed him the plate and the glass, leaning on the couch to sit on the floor beside them, his back against the couch. He took the plate again and put the glass on the other side so that Sol wouldn’t accidentally kick it down. Harry gave him a peck on the lips before returning to the albums.

"Are we nostalgic today?" he asked, smiling at Harry, who shrugged.

"Look, here are my daddies with a very tiny Sol!" The little one said, raising a photo where Draco and Harry were in a very bright park. Draco is holding Sol, who should’ve been about a year and a half in the picture, holding his hand and waving it to whoever took the picture. That photo reminded Harry vaguely of one of his mother doing the same with him. They all were wearing heavy winter clothes, and Sol was laughing under his shaggy wool hat. Harry had one arm around Draco, and they seemed very happy.

"Yes! And look at you, so big now!" Draco said, before eating his toast with eggs on top, chewing and swallowing with juice.

"And this one was at daddy's birthday!" Sol showed another image, where Harry was hugging Neville with one arm and a glass of beer in the other. Ron, Hermione, Draco and Pansy were clapping congratulations and laughing in the picture with their hands clearly covered with cake glaze. Harry’s and Neville’s faces also seemed to be dirty with glaze. Draco smiled at the memory of Harry and Neville’s conjoined birthday. Hannah Abbott was taking the picture, as she did the others from the same, and used them as an excuse to approach Longbottom. A month later, they were in a very serious relationship and already thinking about moving in together.

They spent a long time looking at the pictures, through the pages of the albums. There was a picture of Harry painting Sol’s bedroom, completely covered with blue paint, and another of Draco putting ornaments on a Christmas tree. There was a picture of Narcissa and Lucius with a new born Sol in their arms, without even looking at the camera so fascinated they were with their grandson. There was a photo of Molly cradling the baby, and another of Ginny running away from Draco with Sol in her arms, laughing while Draco tried to recover the baby.

Draco looked up when he heard the sound of a camera shutter. He looked around, finding nothing, but turning his eyes to Harry who was with his wand in one hand, as if he had done nothing.

"You just took a picture, didn’t you?" Draco asked, looking at the half empty plate on his belly, his bare feet and the floor full of photographs. "You just took a picture while I'm like this? Potter, do you have a death wish?"

Harry just laughed, lowering his wand and shrugging.

"It's a very nice image, the three of us here," he said, as if it were no big deal.

"Harry James Potter, I'll kill you if you don’t tell me where this camera is!" Draco threatened, and Harry just laughed harder.

"So you can destroy the picture? Never. I want various domestic images of the three of us and you with that big tummy. We will show it to Tulip when she is Sol’s age," Harry said, winking at him.

"Duhr! And you won’t show anything to anyone; I'm hideous!" Draco complained, but Harry got up, going to the bookshelf and picking up the hidden camera among the books.

"I'll take it now so that by the time you’ll get up from the ground I’ll have hidden it where you can’t find it. I love you," Harry said, and ran out of the room accompanied by Draco’s threatening screams.

Despite the calm morning aura, it went too fast for Draco’s taste. He used the time Harry was home to catch up on the finances of his potion shop, order new ingredients, check on how the employees were and the flow of customers and potions that needed to be replenished. He had hardly finished speaking with Millicent by the Floo on the issue of a leak in the lab when Harry called him to lunch. It was by far the most animated lunch of the past few days. Sol was happy and communicative, and ate everything, even the last grain of pea. He joked and laughed and looked like the happiest child in the world.

Until Harry got out the bedroom dressed in his red Auror uniform.

"Daddy, don’t! Don’t go, stay home!" Sol yelled, clutching his leg.

"Darling, I need to go to work," Harry said, ever so extremely patient, kneeling in front of Sol. Internally, Draco shouted the same words of his child. The scar on Harry's face was paler, but still visible.

"No, you only work! Don’t need today! Today you stay home and play with me!" Sol tapped his foot hard on the ground, his blue eyes filling with water. "Don’t go, daddy, please!"

"Sol, there are bandits out there, and I need to get them all. Remember that if daddy stays at home, the bad guys are going to be loose?" Harry tried to rationalize, and Sol held him by his neck, sniffling on his shoulder.

"Uncle Ron can get the bad guys for you," he said, his hands clutching tightly around his father’s neck. Harry picked him up, rising with him and rocking him slightly. Draco could see that he also had teary eyes.

"Go to your papa, ok? I'll be right back," Harry said, handing the boy to Draco. Sol grimaced and began to cry, asking for Harry to stay.

The last thing Harry heard before entering the Floo was Draco’s calm words.

"Calm down, everything will be fine. Everything will be all right."

That evening, before bedtime, Sol asked for his breasts again, and Draco didn’t even think of denying. He laid with him on the carpet, looking at the photo albums still on the floor, in a pile near the bookcase. Sol still had puffy eyes from crying, but now they were almost closed as he gave way to sleep. When he finally slept, Draco stood up, picking up the album and reviewing the photos.

The photograph where he, Harry and Sol were in the park was gone. Draco felt a terrible feeling, and the acute pain in his belly again. He laid on the floor, pressing the spot and squinting. It had been some time that the baby wasn’t moving, and he was worried. That pain didn’t fell anything like a contraction. It was more like a cramp, perhaps gas, and he had many during the two times he was pregnant. But this one was more acute, more intense. He hugged his stomach and stayed quiet on the floor, panting, trying to gather the strength to at least call Luna. He couldn’t go to St Mungo's; he would if he weren’t stuck in that house, and he didn’t want to show that something was wrong. He needed Luna, Hermione, anyone.

He crawled to the Floo, raising his hand to pick the dust and knocking down a bit on the floor before he could throw it in the fire and call Hermione.

She appeared a few seconds later.

"Draco? What happened?" she asked with worried eyes. Rosie was in the background, playing with her little brother, who extended his hands to catch whatever she was shaking in front of him.

"Pain. So much pain. I need someone. Now," he moaned, and the connection was suddenly cut off.

Draco crawled away to lay back against the couch, skin sweaty with effort. A few minutes later, Hermione came through the Floo, followed by Pansy, who was wearing only muggle shorts and a T-shirt. She had slippers on her feet, as if she didn’t wait even two seconds to respond to Hermione’s requests.

"Draco, Merlin! You are burning with fever!" Hermione exclaimed, putting her hand on his forehead.

"Aunty...?" Sol’s sleepy voice was heard, and Pansy immediately knelt beside him.

"Hi, baby! Aunty came to play with you while Papa and Aunt Mione talk up there!" she said in a childish manner, though her eyes asked Hermione to be fast.

Hermione took Draco by the arm and helped him up, then slowly up the stairs into the bedroom. She put him on the bed and used a spell to decrease the room’s temperature, so as to relieve his fever.

"Have you been feeling these pains for a long time?" she asked, wiping his forehead with a cloth.

"It’s been... A couple of days... I thought it was gas," he said, sincere, and she swore, throwing some diagnostic spells on him. Draco wouldn’t trust someone’s diagnosis spells if they weren’t mediwizards or Healers, but Hermione seemed to know everything about all existing spells and was great with them.

"The baby is very quiet, but seems to be only sleeping," Hermione said, touching his stomach. "I don’t see anything strange, no leaks, nothing that indicates that something is wrong, despite the baby’s magical aura being very strong. You may need just a little rest. These last few days were very stressful for you," Hermione said, touching his leg over the sheets. "I'll get a glass of water for you."

Draco stayed still, waiting for the pain to pass and taking advantage of the cold room. Hermione returned with the water, and it at least eased his aching throat. She sat in a chair beside the bed, and they were enveloped in a comfortable silence. Draco didn’t realise he was falling asleep but when he awoke, the room was in half light, and out the window he could see the sunset. Everything was quiet except for a slight noise that indicated that there were people in the living room. He blinked, returning without notice to the sleeping state.

It was all dark. The telly’s noise had stopped and the silence was oppressive. There was no light on, except the lights outside, and Draco knew, without even looking at the clock, that it was after eight o'clock. Harry hadn’t returned, and the girls should’ve put Sol to bed and gone home.

Lost in thought, Draco forgot them as he felt a weight on the bed. Sol was coming over it, and even in the dark, Draco could see that his eyes were wide.

"Papa, there's a man at the window," Sol said with a small and frightened voice.

"What?" Draco asked, as if he hadn’t heard right.

"There's a man, Papa. At the window," Sol said again, and then Draco heard, a thump against the window.

_Toc. Toc. Toc. Toc Toc._

He was afraid to turn his face. They had passed through the house wards and were there to take him and his child. They had discovered how to pass by Harry protections and he was probably injured in some dirty street, maybe even killed.

_Toc toc. Toc._

With his heart pounding, Draco turned his head slowly to the window. Against the light, there was a sharp shadow of a person, completely black. Draco wanted to scream and couldn’t. Draco wanted to get up but he was stuck on the bed. It was hard to breathe, everything weighed so much more. The shadow was opening the window, was about to enter his bedroom and kidnap his child. The outline of a wand appeared on the window, and Draco felt his eyes fill with tears. No. No. Not my son. NO!

_Toc toc toc toc._

His eyes widened abruptly. Everything was dark except for the lights outside. The telly was still a pleasant noise on the background and he could hear Pansy's laughter coming from the living room. A tear ran down from one of his eyes, and his heart was still pounding furiously.

It had only been a nightmare. Only one nightm-

_Toc toc toc toc. Toc toc!_

Draco turned abruptly to the window, where there was a sharp shadow of an owl. He licked his dry lips, pulling the sheets off with his heart almost pounding out of his chest. He walked slowly to the window, opening it and letting the owl inside. It was an owl from the Ministry. He could tell by the marks in its paws. He took his wand on the dresser, turning on the lights and picking up the letter he had received with an URGENT warning on the back. If he wasn’t so groggy because of his sleep and nightmare, he might have anticipated that.

_"Dear Draco Abraxas Black-Malfoy,_  
_We came through this notice to report that your husband, Harry James Evans-Potter, is currently in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, at the Magical Curses Wing. His condition is stable, however, with no expectation of improvement. The presence of a family member, close relative or friend is necessary, because the patient is currently unable to give basic information or gesturing._

_We expect your presence in the hospital as soon as possible. Other messages were sent to his emergency contacts informed by the Auror Corps, and these are Hermione Jane Granger-Weasley and Ronald Abilius Prewett-Weasley._

_Regards,_  
_Jezebel Clearwater,_  
_General Sub-secretary of the Magical Curses Wing on St Mungo's."_

Draco read the letter many, many times. His hands began to shake, his whole body seemed even heavier. The pain in his womb came back so hard that he felt as if he had suffered a stab. He put both hands on the dresser, but soon pulled one to touch his stomach.

"Hermione..," he called, so low, as if his voice didn’t want to be used. It was so much, much pain. Heavens, Harry... Harry had been injured, they had hurt his Harry. "Her... Hermione...!" He tried louder this time, trying to go to bed. The cold wind coming from the open window made him shiver, but it wasn’t enough to ease his horrible pain. He felt something wet between his legs and running down to the floor. The smell reminded him of bleach, and he knew it was his baby. Draco pressed harder on his stomach, his cheeks damp with tears now. No... Not his baby too. "HERMIONE!" he managed to scream loud enough, and heard desperate footsteps up the stairs.

"Draco. Oh my God, Draco!" Hermione tried to stay calm, but her hands were shaking as she pulled him onto the bed.

"My baby, my baby!" It was all Draco could say, the pain increasing on his hips, almost tearing him up inside. No! He couldn’t born now, it wasn’t the time!

"Circe! Will he have the baby now?" Pansy asked, appearing at the door.

"Sol?" Hermione asked.

"In his room, sleeping. I put a spell on the boy for him to sleep. I'm sorry, Draco, but he can’t see this," she said, looking at Hermione, scared. "What do I do?"

"Hot water and clean towels. He'll have this baby now. Call Luna by Floo, fast!" Hermione practically ordered, and pulled his trousers down his legs. "Let me see, Draco."

"No! He can’t come now, Hermione!" Draco cried, clutching on his stomach as if to keep the baby inside. "It isn’t the right time, it..."

"He’ll die if you don’t push him out!" she screamed, as nervous as Draco, but trying to stay rational. She pulled his underwear, opening his legs, not knowing exactly what to expect. The opening, normally closed and stiff, was open, wet and dilated. She didn’t need to check with her fingers to know that it was time. "We can’t wait anymore, Draco, he’s practically out! PANSY!"

There was a noise of things falling, along with the cries of Draco, who opened his legs as wide as he could, tucking his heels on the mattress. Heavens, it seemed like death was pulling him, taking with it all he had.

"Come on, Draco, when you feel the next contraction coming, push...!" Hermione ordered, holding him by the knees, and Draco writhed on the bed.

"No... There is nothing com- _Fuck_!" A strong contraction came, and he tried to push in the rhythm, but losing some of it. "You're a psychologist, not a Healer!" he cried, but when the next contraction came, he pushed with all the strength he had, feeling his body ripping again.

"Come on, Draco! You and I have gone through this before. You can do it. You've done it before!" Hermione directed, while Pansy appeared with towels and water, putting them on the dresser.

The minutes that followed were long, and seemed like hours. With every twinge of furious pain, Draco pushed, only thinking that he couldn’t kill his child, who needed to get out of him before the worst happened.

When he heard the cry of a new born, Draco thought he had no more energy to open his eyes. Hermione cut the umbilical cord with her wand, wiping the baby in the water and wrapping it with towels, handing the child to Pansy.

"Come on, Draco, is not over yet. You need to push the placenta out," Hermione said, and he groaned in exhaustion. At the hospital, they would do it with magic, but he wasn’t at the hospital. Of Luna, there was no sign.

More long minutes passed before he felt Hermione wiping and disinfecting the entire environment to avoid risks.

"My baby... My baby, where is he?" he asked, groggily, and Pansy came with a cloth bundle in her arms. Hermione helped him to sit up, and he took the pile in his arms. There was a very red face among the very white towels, wet, no eyebrows and extremely light and thin hair. Draco smiled, thinking that finally one that looked like a Malfoy was born. He pulled the towel to take a look at the body of his baby: Five fingers on each hand, five toes on each foot. It was a big baby for a premature, and he smiled. "I said he would be a boy," he muttered to himself, and then he remembered Harry.

Harry, who was in the emergence wing on St Mungo’s; who had no idea that his second child was born. Unable to control himself, Draco began to cry. A copious, desperate weeping. At this point, Hermione already had the letter in her hands, and asked Pansy to take care of Draco as she ran to the hospital. Not that Draco could see the world around him very well.

The only thing he wished for now was for his son’s birth date wasn’t his husband’s death day.

Draco slept with the baby at his side. He didn’t dare to mention the child's name when Pansy asked, saying he needed Harry to make that decision. He didn’t know when he fell asleep, exhausted as he was, but he was woken at midnight by Pansy, who rocked a crying baby in her arms.

"He needs to eat, Draco," she said, handing him the baby.

He let the small one seek his breast, feeling a mixture of sadness and affection with the sensation of a desperate mouth sucking on his nipple. There was great hunger in his child, as much as despair and strength. It hurt, but Draco let him drink until his breast emptied, and gave him the other. The baby drank with the same fury, until he was asleep. Draco went back to sleep and woke up the next morning.

He faced Sol, looking scared at the child in bed with his father. Pansy was asleep in the chair, wrapped in a blanket and hugging a pillow that she probably got in the closet.

"It's my little brother," Sol whispered, and smiled at Draco, stroking the baby's hair.

It was red. The thin, light locks on the baby's head were red.

"Darn it," Draco murmured softly, thinking that Potter’s genes were too strong. Then his body shuddered, thinking of Harry again. He needed to see him. He needed to be beside him.

"How's his name, Papa?" Sol asked, blinking lightly. "Will he have a star name too? Like me and you?"

"Yes, I think so." Draco nodded. For some reason, Duhr didn’t seem right. It didn’t seem appropriate. He raised a hand to Sol’s messy curls from his sleep and caressed his head. It was late, probably the boy slept too much because of Pansy’s spell.

"Where's daddy?" Sol asked, looking up and staring at Draco’s grey eyes with his blues.

"He..." Draco wasn’t able to answer. He heard footsteps climbing the stairs, and then Hermione entered his bedroom, followed by Luna.

"Draco, I am _so sorry_... Yesterday was a nightmare at St Mungo's! Harry... Harry is there, but..." Luna tried to explain, approaching him and kissing him on the forehead, although he knew he was smelling horribly of sweat and milk.

"Harry... How is he...? He tried to ask, and Hermione was the one who answered.

"He is fine. Ron saw what happened, and they are preparing a counter spell," she said, and her eyes became dark, distant. She knew about the mission, too.

"Hermione... Where could you go?" Draco asked, and she smiled slightly.

"To here. To the Burrow." She sighed, hugging herself. "Rosie and Hugo are with Mrs Weasley now... That... That is terrorizing me."

He held her hand; it shook slightly, showing that he understood her pain, her apprehension and fear.

"I need to see him, Luna," Draco said, turning to her, and it looked like she hadn’t heard him. She was casting various spells on him and the baby, without losing her focus.

"You will if you are good to," she replied, serious, and Draco sighed.

It took five hours for him to be released out of his own home. During this period, he tried to walk even in pain after giving birth, fed his new born twice, changed nappies three times, bathed twice and also took care of Sol - with the help of the girls. The baby was now wearing warm and comfortable clothes, soft to the touch, and Draco couldn’t get enough of looking at him. Sol was also fascinated by his little brother and him being so small and red.

"Was I ugly like this when I was a baby, Papa?" Sol asked, making Pansy laugh and almost gagging with juice.

"All babies are like this because inside the belly is like a swimming pool. Remember when we spend a long time in the water and get all wrinkled?" Hermione said, and the boy raised his eyebrows.

"So that's why babies cry when they leave the tummies. I don’t like to leave the pool," Sol said, and even in this tense situation they were in, it was impossible not to smile.

When Draco entered St Mungo's, he walked straight to where Harry was, following Luna and seeing that he wasn’t the only one. So many Aurors were occupying several beds... And children. Several children of different ages, unmoving and monitored by various healers and mediwizards.

As soon as they arrived Harry's room, he took a deep breath before entering. Harry looked asleep, but he shook his head when Draco came in with the baby in his arms, with Sol holding his robes. The baby was wrapped in a light blue glow, a protective bubble so that he wouldn’t catch any infection or virus inside that place.

"Hey, Dray," Harry greeted, and Draco almost burst into tears. Harry could only move one arm and his head, but his eyes fixed on the bundle that Draco was carrying. "Is that...?"

"I said it would be a boy," Draco couldn’t resist saying, and Harry laughed, and then a sound that resembled a cry, a sob, left him. Draco put the baby on Harry's chest, and he held him with the only arm that moved, smoothing his chubby cheek as gentle as he could with his thumb.

"He... He has red hair," Harry said, a little surprised, and Draco sat beside him, pulling Sol to his arms and nodding.

"I thought of a name for him," Draco said, reaching out and touching his child.

"Not "Duhr"?" Harry looked at him, confused.

"No. Phoenix," Draco said, looking at Harry, and seeing his husband with a huge smile.

"Phoenix. I really liked it. I liked it. Combined with his hair; Phoenix," Harry said softly, breathing in the smell of the new born baby. He let Sol get closer, feeling love and affection there, along with his family, although he was in a hospital bed in St Mungo's. Draco explained what had happened, the pain that he was feeling a few days ago, and how it happened. Then it was Harry's turn to explain.

"We managed to dismantle the group. But they were too many, and they used those spells that I told you about. I was right in front, protecting my group, and they hit me with one of them. The other boys were able to contain them with a distraction that the curse caused; Ron and I were able to memorise the spell. The Unspeakables managed to create a counter spell, and it is fading slowly. It was released in all, including the children. It will be a lot of hard work, but now I can guarantee that you, Sol and our small Phoenix will be safe," Harry said, still stroking the baby on his chest, while he was sleeping calmly.

"Did you get the bad guys, Daddy?" Sol asked, solemn, and Harry smiled at him reassuringly.

"Yes, Sol. Uncle Ron and I got all the bad guys," he said, and high fived his son, who smiled at Draco as if to reaffirm how his dad was amazing.

Draco agreed.

"Are you sure he isn’t a Weasley?" Narcissa asked, rocking the baby in her arms, while Lucius watched from afar, as if he wasn’t interested. Draco knew that eventually his father would approach the child, especially when Sol asked every five minutes if he wanted to hold his little brother.

"Mum, I'd know if I had been lying with a Weasley." Draco raised one eyebrow, causing Narcissa to smile and shrug.

"It's just... You're blond, Harold is brunet..."

" _Harry_. And his mother was a redhead," Draco said, touching the thin hair of the baby, who was looking at his grandmother with big, green, attentive eyes.

At that moment, Lucius put his whiskey glass away, approaching them and sitting next to Narcissa.

"How do you name him again?" Lucius asked, looking him over as if uninterested. Draco realised that his hands opened and closed, eager to get him in his arms.

"Phoenix Indi Malfoy-Potter," Draco said proudly, touching the boy’s almost transparent eyebrows. "Come on, father, take him. I know you're dying to."

Once Lucius took the child in his arms, he smiled fatherly at him, and Draco heard a shutter noise. He raised his head, looking at Harry, holding a camera and a smile. He was still a bit unaccustomed to wearing proper clothes, but considering it was his parents’ home, he had at least put on some shoes and combed his hair - without considering that now he didn’t have a big stomach, even though he was starting a diet and exercising to return to his slim and slender body as before. He felt no desire to break the brunet’s camera. No... He was actually happy for Harry to capture these family moments. He knew that in the future he would like to see all these moments and remember everything that happened. Draco was sure that when he would look at the pictures of these moments with Sol and Phoenix in his old age, he would smile and caress them with nostalgia. His family was just beginning... But Merlin, how much he loved it. How he loved deeply and uncontrollably all those people in the Malfoy’s living room.

His next fertile period was still far away, but he couldn’t resist thinking that he might want more kids. One more. Maybe some flowers to beautify their stars.

Later, when they returned home, he didn’t have to comment on his thoughts with Harry. Looking at the glow in his eyes, Draco knew that Harry was thinking the same. He cradled Phoenix and smiled at Sol, even though he was still limping. When Harry licked his lips, Draco knew what he was thinking, and was grateful for still being desirable to Harry even though he had just had a child. Maybe it was exactly what excited him more, knowing that Harry would love him no matter what. 

Anyway, Draco didn’t need words to know that Harry loved his children, loved him more than anything and, above all, would always be ready to love his family and protect it for all times.

_Fin~_

**Author's Note:**

> Comment here for on [Livejournal](http://hd-familyfest.livejournal.com/20404.html) for the author to see. Authors & Artists will remain anonymous until reveals - posted after October 1, 2016


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